Jefferson New Middle School

Finally, some good news! However, "Toxic Crusaders" should have been on the front page in place of some of your disaster/war articles. These three young ladies are heroines and should be recognized as such. What they did was monumental in terms of research and perseverance, and by exposing a shocking environmental and public health issue to the public. The producers of "Erin Brockovich" should take a look at these young "Toxic Crusaders." And shame on the Los Angeles Unified School District for keeping Jefferson New Middle School open!

Finally, some good news! However, "Toxic Crusaders" should have been on the front page in place of some of your disaster/war articles. These three young ladies are heroines and should be recognized as such. What they did was monumental in terms of research and perseverance, and by exposing a shocking environmental and public health issue to the public. The producers of "Erin Brockovich" should take a look at these young "Toxic Crusaders." And shame on the Los Angeles Unified School District for keeping Jefferson New Middle School open!

It was an answer to the dreams of South-Central Los Angeles parents who put their youngsters on buses every day: a new middle school built in their own neighborhood. But now the planned July 1 opening of Jefferson New Middle School has been postponed indefinitely. The $54.5-million campus was built on land that once housed a gas station and furniture factories and lies just across the street from a former chrome-plating plant that will soon be added to the state's Superfund cleanup list.

It was an answer to the dreams of South-Central Los Angeles parents who put their youngsters on buses every day: a new middle school built in their own neighborhood. But now the planned July 1 opening of Jefferson New Middle School has been postponed indefinitely. The $54.5-million campus was built on land that once housed a gas station and furniture factories and lies just across the street from a former chrome-plating plant that will soon be added to the state's Superfund cleanup list.

Faced with overcrowding at middle schools feeding into Jefferson and Fremont high schools, the Los Angeles Unified School District last week broke ground on the site for an elementary school at 56th Street near Slauson Avenue. Construction of the school will begin in mid-October, with completion slated for July, 1996, district officials said. Funds for the $29-million school come from 1992 school construction bonds. The school, temporarily named Jefferson New Middle School No.

The Los Angeles school district is in a race against time to build 51 new schools to accommodate an enrollment that is closing in on 700,000 students and growing faster than expected. The building spree is projected to cost $1.8 billion; part of the funding will depend on a proposed statewide bond issue and at least half will come from local Proposition BB school bond construction funds, triggering the involvement of the vigilant BB oversight committee.

Dissatisfied with test results of a toxic cleansing system at a new middle school, state toxics officials are asking for additional information, a potential obstacle to opening the South-Central Los Angeles campus in September, according to documents obtained Thursday.

They had their 15 minutes of fame, and they were not impressed by it. Three teens, known as the Toxic Crusaders to their friends, have earned national recognition from Time magazine, a TV salute as environmental heroes, and all sorts of kudos from government and school officials. What have Fabiola Tostado, 16, Maria Perez, 16, and Nevada Dove, 19, learned from their experiences fighting the system?

Two days after conceding that they could no longer guarantee the safety of a Los Angeles middle school built next to a Superfund site, state environmental officials said Friday that they have opened a new investigation into toxic contamination.

February 18, 2002 | BRYAN L. STEELE, Bryan L. Steele, a former teacher, was the lead investigator for the Joint Legislative Audit Committee in 1998-99 and is the author of "Road to Belmont" (Foreshadow Press, 2000). E-mail: BryanLSteele @yahoo.com.

Finally, experts assert that the Belmont Learning Complex can be finished safely and efficiently. But wait, haven't we heard this before? And who are these experts? The notion of expertise denotes relevant firsthand knowledge. Yet the Belmont situation is unique and so such expertise probably does not exist.

Which book requires more brain power to read all the way through: The classic Greek play "Antigone" or the modern thriller "Clear and Present Danger"? According to one computer analysis now in use by teachers across the country, it's no contest. The work of spymaster novelist Tom Clancy packs 10 times the literacy wallop of the prose of Sophocles. The Scholastic Reading Counts!